


in the clear

by kinpika



Series: thin red line [1]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: BH Story, Force Sensitivity, Investigating into your boss' room is probably not a good idea, Lightsaber finding and testing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-12 23:37:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19239400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinpika/pseuds/kinpika
Summary: Torian had abandoned his post in favour of following Mako in, it seemed. Clearly more than interested enough to betray his better senses. Mako had to give him some credit — she hadn’t heard him at all, and he continued to make soft footfalls as he padded back over to her.The suggestion of truth is not something to always be desired.





	in the clear

**Author's Note:**

> ft my bh, catiel jast

On principle alone, the two of them knew that sneaking around on the ship was a bad idea. Mako was nothing if not convincing, however, despite the resistance Torian held. A few valid points thrown in his face, and the most he would offer was to be lookout. Nothing more, nothing less. After all, cracking open the door to a bounty hunter’s room was asking for trouble, especially such a hunter like Catiel.

There was no telling what was going to be on the other side of the door. Even as Mako knelt down, fingers running over a little device in her hand as she worked through codes and locks, Torian reminded her that they may end up dead. Catiel was conservative when it came to her background, nothing more than a shrug and mentions of ‘doing bad things to bad people’. Mako could barely find her name in her searches, which added more confusion, more mystery. 

For all they knew, there could be a remotely controlled gun hanging from the ceiling, ready to go off once they got the door open. And that would be it. Two of the team gone due to blinding curiosity.

Torian kicks his feet out, uncrosses and recrosses his arms once more. Getting itchy, like Catiel was bound to appear any second. Nar Shaddaa only held so much attention for any of them, anyway. Business to attend to, and Gault had skulked off not long after. A little countdown sat in the centre of the holoterminal, indicating how long they had until she would get back. 

Hours, still a few hours. 

“Stop that.”

With a pause, a full one, Torian meets Mako’s eye, then drops his foot again. Shifts once more. Notes the twitch of her eye, and can feel his lips try to pull into a smile. “Stop what?”

Mako sighs, something about how he knew exactly what he was doing. But that was one of many complaints. More about what kind of a lock Catiel had installed. How it barely broke in Mako’s fingers, just three seconds more. “I’ve checked everything. We shouldn’t trip any alarms.”

“Convincing,” Torian says, barely moving further into the doorway. Can’t help that the curiosity was getting to him, with how Mako slowly stands. 

In the doorway to the captain quarters, they both had to admire what work Catiel had put in. Above the bed, and arcing towards the table pushed against a wall, was quite an amount of wiring and screens, flicking between faces unfamiliar. Maps, words, bleeping dots, running continuously and furiously that Mako couldn’t make sense of it. By the look on Torian’s face, neither could he.

Strange to consider that she was running through listings on her own, when they had reworked the room before the cockpit into something similar. But that was all their doing, when this was just Catiel’s work. Mako hadn’t considered, or truly given much thought, to her ability with code, not to the likes of this. Live footage was rolling on one screen, holding onto one particular area, before going to the next. It looked like an apartment building, but Mako couldn’t say which one, or where, it might’ve been.

Whatever little furniture there was in the room had been pushed up against the walls. Drawers spilling open with clothes half falling out, more cords, what looked like the end of a blaster hanging out. The bed was used, messy, sheets pushed up against the edge. Mako could spy boxes shoved on other side, seemingly shut tight. Hard to believe she was up in here like this, all times of the day when they weren’t doing much else. Feet lead her towards the largest of the screens, where several faces glared up, few more with crosses marked over them.

Portraits flicked through, status: _deceased_. Status: _alive_. Uncertain. Last known location, projected future location. Prices, weapons, the cost, where their parents were. Affiliation: _Jedi_.

“Jedi?” 

Not that Jedi were beyond their reach, as Catiel was more than comfortable sharing a few tips on Alderaan. More than was likely appropriate, considering just where they’d holed up for a few days when out without contacting the ship. But these were more than just the usual bounties they’d been handed. More than removing a political enemy or two for a Sith with more money than sense. 

This was just unexpected.

“What’s this?”

Torian had abandoned his post in favour of following Mako in, it seemed. Clearly more than interested enough to betray his better senses. Mako had to give him some credit — she hadn’t heard him at all, and he continued to make soft footfalls as he padded back over to her. 

In his hand was a very familiar item, although Mako was sure that there were very few people left in the universe who couldn’t recognise it. This one was weathered, notable markings that spoke of a fight or two, with a sizeable dent on the hilt. Running her fingers over the curved metal, noting that despite the wear and tear, it was a remarkably well made saber. Perhaps a little longer than the standard, but when turned over, there was nothing to suggest light would form from the base. 

A trophy, for sure. It was a strange idea, to imagine Catiel in possession of one of these, and in the months spent together, Mako had never thought of her to claim trophies. Every other collected bounty was just money, nothing physical taken away to put on a shelf. Sure, they stripped down parts, scrounged up loose and useless bits of tech to sell to someone shady that she knew, but,

 _But_.

Mako thumbed the switch. It would’ve been so easy to just flick it on, to see. To feel that heat and hear that thrum. Whilst she knew that she wasn’t sensitive, not in any sense, Mako had enough lightsabers get into her personal space to know exactly how it felt, barely grazing her skin. Torian was looking a little edgy, and there could’ve been multiple reasons why. Bad blood, one too many battles, or just all their tendency to get on edge at the mention of stuff like the Force, Jedi, Sith, lightsabers. 

With a soft _click_ , Mako presses the switch in. A bright light emitted from the end, barely holding blue, but it practically popped and fizzled in her hands. And her guess on the base was correct, as she released the switch to watch the end extend, forming a longer hilt. So weird, to be able to hold a lightsaber in her hands, and Torian went from a mild interest to clear disapproval. Arms crossed over his chest, if Mako didn’t know any better, she would think he was trying to pull away from it. 

Pressing the switch once more, the light went out, the hilt returned to something remarkably shorter, and the warmth in her hands died down. “You don’t think…?” Letting the question hang, Mako couldn’t stop the frown. The way the lightsaber was formed, suggested that it was personal. Experimented on. And if the room was anything to go by, the little niggling thought in the back of her head might be true.

“No.” Torian’s answer was quick and clean, a finality of futures he didn’t want to explore. Didn’t leave anything to the imagination. 

Stubborn in his refusal, Torian wanted to shut the conversation down. They’d overstayed their welcome in Catiel’s quarters anyway, much too long picking through every little thing they could see, but not touch. It wasn’t right, no matter how many faces stared back up at him from screens, no matter how little holo replicas whipped through targets, highlighting points of weakness. Of course they all had lives before boarding this ship, but Torian didn’t want to pry this way. 

Forcing himself into her business was leaving a pit in his gut. Especially at the notion of a lightsaber, so casually set on a bookcase, likely ignored, thrown aside. Not once had he seen Catiel arm herself with such a weapon, and Torian wasn’t quite sure what it meant if she did. 

“We need to leave, Mako.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth, did his personal holocommunicator beep. Or it could’ve been Mako’s, with how they both fumbled to pull them out. Angry and red, it glowed in his hands, Catiel’s name flashing across it. Busted. 

Mako goes to protest, as Torian answers the call. “Hunter,” he greets, remembering something about protocol and conversations that could be overheard. Something about not wanting to use names so openly. 

Grainy and blue, Catiel seemed to tower despite the format she was in. Unhappy was putting it lightly, with how she had her arms crossed, head tilted to the side. Like she would do, seconds away from deciding on carbonisation or a blaster to the head on a target who pissed her off. Torian had often wondered what it would be like, for those at the wrong end of her good graces. 

This was probably the time he was realising just what that would feel like. 

_“Get out. Now.”_

Remote access. Must have had a camera in the ceiling. Did they trigger an alarm upon entry? A dozen more questions ran through Torian’s head, before he settles for clicking his jaw shut and nodding quickly. “Sorry.” It’s all he had in him, a little forced, but true nonetheless. 

Mako was fidgeting on the spot, clearly unsure of the procedure from here. Out of all of them, Mako had been with Catiel the longest. And from what she had said, they had been pretty open and honest with each other, more than one conversation dragging for several system jumps. No doubt the way Catiel’s room sat was eyeopening, and just brought more doubts to the forefront of her mind. 

Whilst Mako hadn’t been one to waver, not once doubting Catiel’s loyalty and reliability, she looked a little shaken. Like that little mechanism in her head wasn’t working fast enough to put all the pieces together. 

Not giving them a second more to justify themselves, Catiel cuts the line. Torian takes Mako by the arm them, dragging her out behind them. When they’re close to the terminal, the door shuts behind them, emitting a dark red ring. A little frightening, but to be expected. He should’ve known she would’ve been alerted of someone entering her room, no matter how much effort Mako took to break through the lock. Such a private person would’ve taken extra measures.

Torian lets Mako go, running a hand through his hair as he considers what their possible futures may hold. Catiel might throw them off the ship, abandoning them to Nar Shaddaa, which seemed like one future most likely. Perhaps she’d just talk their ears off, and give them that incredibly disappointed look that they all rather not receive. Rather unlikely, considering Torian had never heard her voice so cold before. 

As he turns to judge where Mako was at, he realises she was still holding the lightsaber. Rippling cold runs down his back, as they now had possibly committed theft, on top of breaking and entering. Fantastic. He was never being talked into anything again. 

But Mako just holds the lightsaber tighter in her hands. Finds Torian’s eye, with a surprisingly resolute look that takes him by surprise. “I memorised some of the names in her room. I’m going to find out who they are, and who Catiel is.”

“Don’t do that, Mako. You’re asking for trouble.” A note of pleading enters his voice, one he wasn’t too proud of, but Torian didn’t want to push it. All things considered, looking up anything specific might flag some other protocol Catiel might’ve installed, that they don’t know about. Or they were going to get in too deep into something that was way above their pay grade. 

Or went deeper, into the Empire and Republic, and everything in between. Torian didn’t want to go that far, as they had maintained an odd amount of neutrality, something that suited them all just fine. Sticking a foot into the dirt and muddying the water was not something he wanted to do.

“You can’t stop me.” 

Pushing past him, Mako heads towards the cockpit. Torian knows he should reach out, stop her, make her put down that ridiculous lightsaber, whatever ideals or aspirations she had. That she should consider just what they may uncover, and whether they really wanted to know. But his voice fails him, the door to the cockpit slides shut, and Torian can only think.

Think how deep down, he wanted to know as well, but regretted how he wasn’t brave enough to take that leap.


End file.
